Weekly Shabbat Messages

Every week, Jody Hirsh, the JCC's Judaic Education Director, provides a Judaic message that is featured at the top of the JCC's weekly email newsletter. Below is the Shabbat message for Friday, September 9, 2016.Click hereto read past Shabbat Messages.

Fiddler on the Roof and the Sabbath Prayer

We’re all familiar with the “Sabbath Prayer” from Fiddler on the Roof. For most of us, it reflects a traditional and peaceful Jewish custom which evokes so much nostalgia, even for those of us who haven’t been accustomed to Sabbath meals. In 1964 Fiddler on the Roof opened on Broadway and for many Jews it was an astonishing event. It evoked such pride in a public expression of Jewishness that no Jew had experienced in America. The year was a turbulent one, however. In 1964:

President Lyndon Johnson declared a “War on Poverty.”

Three civil rights workers, two of them Jewish, were murdered in Mississippi.

The Civil Rights Act, abolishing segregation became law.

The Vietnam War Death tallies reached 164,924 deaths sparking continued anti-war demonstrations.

The Philadelphia race rots resulted in almost 800 arrests and 341 injuries.

At the height of the Cold War, a US Airforce training jet was shot down in East Germany.

“Fiddler” seemed to be a stark contrast to the contemporary events happing outside the theater. Yes – even in the world of Tevya the Milkman, there was violence. A pogrom. The end of the show shows the Jews leaving in exile from their town due to increased anti-Semitism of Czarist Russian. Tevya’s family is torn apart.

However, the family survives in spite of everything – in part because they have entered modernity. This new world is one which women are in control of their own fate and choose their husbands for love rather than submitting to a match arranged by their fathers. Sewing machines and other technology makes life better. Revolution is in the air, supported by those who want to create a better world. And even a non-Jew can love a Jew. The musical is based on the series of stories by the famed author of 100 years ago, Shalom Aleichem. The original stories are ones of Tevya and his family overcoming suffering and surviving in the face of everything. The musical, however, takes a different tact. It is a story of a changing world that offers hope in the future – a modern future with a place for everyone. That’s been part of the power of this musical. It is about the generation gap. About the power of families. About love. And about creating a better world. It is about change. And as such it has captivated the imaginations of Jews and Non-Jews alike.

This musical has been so powerful, that it has been produced in countless countries and languages. The first Japanese production was so well received, that Japanese audiences wondered about how an American team of writers and musicians could produce a parable that was really about Japanese families!

This Sunday night at 7:30 we in Milwaukee have a great opportunity to share in a performance of the music of Fiddler – both the songs that were in the musical, and the ones that were cut out before it was ever performed. Cantor Jeremy Stein has worked to create this special evening.